EFQM - European Foundation for Quality Management

Introduction to EFQM

The EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) is a European foundation based in Brussels that was founded in 1988 by 14 European companies (Bosch, BT, Bull, Ciba-Geigy, Dassault, Electrolux, Fiat, KLM, Nestlé, Olivetti, Philips, Renault, Sulzer, Volkswagen) with the support of the European Commission. The EFQM now has more than 700 member organizations.

The goal of this not-for-profit organization is to promote a methodological framework for evaluating quality improvement.

The EFQM model for excellence is based on a concept that consists in evaluating quality according to 9 key criteria:

Leadership

Management of employees

Policy and strategy

Partnerships and resources

Processes

Employee satisfaction

Client satisfaction

Integration into the community

Operational results

This criteria are balanced out and divided into two categories: Factors (corresponding to the first five criteria) and Results (the last four) so that a company is able to quantify the level of quality achieved and position itself in comparison with other companies.

Article written on 16 December 2004 by Jean-François Pillou

Jean-François Pillou - Founder of CCMBetter known as Jeff, Jean-François Pillou is the founder of CommentCaMarche.net. He is also CEO of CCM Benchmark and digital director at the Figaro Group.